The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector having a metal shield and a housing thereof reliably engaged with each other.
It is well known that a cellular phone is provided with an electrical connector for enabling the cellular phone to connect with an auxiliary electrical device. JP Publication Patent Nos. 11-111389 and 9-259981 disclose such electrical connectors used in this field. A catalog of Hirose Company also shows electrical connectors for enabling cellular phones to connect with electrical devices.
TW Patent application No. 83216732 discloses an electrical connector with a shield, a housing and a plurality of terminals. Neither the shield or the housing has positioning tabs for securely engaging a printed circuit board (PCB), so that a reliable connection between the soldering portions of the terminals and the PCB cannot be formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,118 discloses an electrical connector having a housing with a plurality of terminals assembled therein. A metal shield attaches to the housing for providing electromagnetic interference shielding. The metal shield is stamped from sheet metal of certain thickness and includes a pair of engaging tabs abutting against the housing. The metal shield further includes two end portions forming a joint. A thickness of the overlapped end portions is substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet metal. However, a problem of this configuration is that the metal shield is unlikely secured to the housing thereby resulting a poor electrical connection between. the terminals and a PCB.
FIG. 4 discloses a conventional electrical connector 5. The electrical connector 5 has an insulative housing 50, a plurality of terminals 52 insert molded with the housing 50, and a metal shield 53 enclosing the housing 50. Each terminal 52 has a contacting portion (not shown) and a soldering portion 521 soldered to a PCB (not shown). The shield 53 has a plurality of flanges 532 at front edges thereof and a pair of retentive tabs 531 extending downwardly to abut against a front face of the housing 50. The retentive tabs 531 resist a pull-out force acting on the housing 50 when a mating connector (not shown) is withdrawn from the connector 5.
However, the retentive tabs 531 of the conventional electrical connector 5 distort easily when a push force is exerted on the housing, so that the retentive tabs 531 cannot effectively resist a push-in force acting on the housing 50 during insertion of the mating connector into the connector 5. As a result, the engagement between the housing 50 and the shield 53 can be easily broken thereby transmitting the acting force directly to the connection formed between the terminals 52 and the PCB. In a worst case, a malfunction will be experienced resulted from electrical disconnections. Furthermore, since no additional securing structure is provided on the shield 53, a proper and reliable engagement between the mating connector and the connector 5 cannot be ensured when the mating connector is inserted therein and withdrawn therefrom.
Hence, an improved connector is needed to eliminate the above mentioned defects of the conventional connector.
A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a shield and a housing thereof reliably engaged with each other.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with additional securing means for ensuring a proper and reliable engagement with a mating connector.
A third object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector, ensuring a reliable connection between terminals thereof and a printed circuit board (PCB).
An electrical connector of the present invention has a metal shield, a dielectric housing and a plurality of terminals. The shield has a top wall, a first and a second side walls, and a bottom wall formed by bending the side walls. A winding slit is defined in the bottom wall by two opposed end portions of the shield. A first and a second retentive tabs downwardly extend from rear side edges of the top wall. A first flange With top semi-circular bumps and a fourth flange with bottom semi-circular bumps are formed respectively at front edges of the top and bottom walls. A pair of slots are defined in each of the top wall and the bottom wall and extend through corresponding semi-circular bumps. A first and a second cutouts are defined in the top wall adjacent to the retentive tabs. A first locating tab and a second locating tab extend downwardly from the respective side walls. The housing has a mating end with a plurality of passageways defined therein and a body portion with two side portions formed on two lateral sides of the body portion. Each side portion has a standoff and a protrusion with an aperture defined therebetween. A notch is defined in each of the side portions.
In assembly, the plurality of terminals are insert molded in the housing with the contact portions thereof received in the passageways. The housing is enclosed by the shield. The winding slit strengthens the integrity of the shield. The slots of the metal shield receive corresponding ribs of a mating connector when the mating connector is inserted into the connector. The retentive tabs of the shield engage with the notches of the side portions of the housing through the corresponding apertures, the standoffs of the housing project into the cutouts of the metal shield, and the protrusions abut against a rear edge of the top wall of the shield, so that relative movement between the housing and the shield is prevented. The first and second locating tabs are adapted to position the electrical connector on a PCB. The bottom sides of the soldering portions of the terminals are coplanar with the bottom wall of the shield, whereby the soldering portion can be soldered to appropriate circuit traces on the PCB.